COLUMBUS - Taylor Hall has Friday night in Chicago circled on his calendar.

And not because it brings him one step closer to the 10-game mark, the point at which the first year of his entry level contract becomes official and it's essentially too late to send him back to junior.

No, he's more excited about playing the Stanley Cup champs in one of the coolest cities in the league. The 10-game thing, he's not giving it half a thought.

Nor should he. Oilers GM Steve Tambellini confirmed Thursday that Hall will indeed be playing Game 9 in Chicago and Game 10 Tuesday in Edmonton, that he is indeed here for the year. Hall then went out and confirmed it himself with a goal, an assist and a third-period promotion against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

"To be honest I'm not really thinking about getting sent down," said the 18-year-old, who finished the game on the line with Sam Gagner and Ales Hemsky, replacing Dustin Penner. "Whether my points show it or not, I do feel comfortable in this league, there are moments here where I've been able to do very well."

Like last night.

"Definitely not the prettiest goal of my life, but I'll take it for sure," said Hall, who deflected Theo Peckham's point shot past Steve Mason for the first of his career to tie it 2-2 midway through the third period. "I've been waiting a long time, I've been asked about it a million times and I put a lot pressure on myself. I definitely wanted to score tonight and I had a feeling before the game that this would be the night."

While his slow start made waves among the vocal minority, Hall said feedback from within the organization has been great, not that he's the type of personality that needs a lot of reassuring.

"I'm not a guy who needs a whole lot of comfort, you know, hand on the shoulder kind of stuff, but at the same time it's pretty comforting when you're staying out after practice and they come up and say nice words to you. They've been very good, it's always positive.

"The thing that they keep reiterating is that they believe in us, no matter what's going on they always believe in us. No matter how much ice time we're getting, they still believe in us as players. That's always nice."

There's a difference between not getting a lot of points and not belonging, and Hall is on the right side of that line even before the breakout evening.

"There hasn't been a moment in the NHL when I was like 'I just don't belong. I can't do this,'" he said. "Certainly there have been some tough times, like the losing streak, but I do feel I belong and I do feel I can play here. It's only a matter of time before I get this whole thing jump started."

Former Windsor coach Bob Boughner, now an assistant in Columbus, says we're only seeing the tip of the iceberg.

"I don't think it's anything different than Steve Stamkos or Joe Thornton in their rookie years (both went pointless in their first seven games)," said Boughner. "It takes a month or two to get your feet wet in this league but once he does he'll be a scary player. He's going to be a franchise player, one of the greats, when it's all said and done."